


why don't you say so?

by abigailcathleen



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Accidental Confession, Food mention, M/M, Steve is a disaster bi but what else is new
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-12
Updated: 2020-02-12
Packaged: 2021-02-27 22:14:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,103
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22683070
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/abigailcathleen/pseuds/abigailcathleen
Summary: Steve’s chest tightens because he wants to tell him how he feels. He wants and wants and wants…The waitress comes with their orders before he can even begin thinking about what to say.(For Harringrove WoL day 3—Accidental Confession)
Relationships: Billy Hargrove/Steve Harrington
Comments: 39
Kudos: 287
Collections: Harringrove Week of Love, harringrove for Australia





	why don't you say so?

**Author's Note:**

  * For [prettyboyporter](https://archiveofourown.org/users/prettyboyporter/gifts).



> cw: food mention! please heed this warning if that's not a good thing for you. 
> 
> for tracy for hfa; i hope you enjoy it, my friend! <3 <3 <3

“You’re _wrong_.”

Steve rolls his eyes at Billy from where he’s tagging the new release with little orange stickers. “No, _you’re_ wrong.”

Billy’s leaning back against the counter of Family Video like he owns the place, elbows down and head tilted back, chewing on the end of the cigarette he keeps saying he’s going to go outside to smoke. He’s been here most of his lunch break, replacing his blue uniform vest in favour of his leather jacket. Most days he pops over from the Kroger across the road where he stocks shelves. 

They emerged from the Starcourt shit bruised and shaken but somehow they got to a new normal, wiped the slate clean between them. Now they hang on their lunch breaks, smoke cigarettes in the parking lot, drink beer with each other while they watch the brats play D&D. Steve finds now that he doesn’t mind it; he looks forward to it, even. Finds that he wants to see Billy _more_ , outside of work and the parking lot and the brats, wants to, like, hang out. _Alone._

Which freaks him out and excites him, makes him want to scream into a pillow. The whole _boy_ thing doesn’t exactly surprise him, but the whole _Billy_ thing, well. Nothing could’ve prepared him for that. For the fluttering in his stomach or the focused way he watches Billy’s curls move in the breeze when they drive or the pull he feels when Billy stands close to him. 

It’s new and wild and frightening. Feeling this way, getting to feel this way about _Billy_ , someone who seems to look at Steve and actually _see_ something. But it’s nice, too. 

Even when Billy’s spewing shit, like he is right now. 

It started when Billy took a bite out of a peanut butter and banana sandwich, which like, _yuck_. Bananas? On a sandwich? It’s so gross it’s _offensive_. Must be some weird, Cali bullshit, and Steve refuses to get behind it, no matter how cute Billy looks eating lunch from a brown paper bag, how endearing Steve finds the mental image of Billy slicing a banana in the morning, spreading peanut butter on slices of bread…

And now Billy’s saying something about _fries_ and _milkshakes_ and it’s _gross_ but Steve needs to keep his eyes trained ahead, focused on all the copies of _The Terminator_ so that he doesn’t take one look at Billy and melt to the floor, show him how _soft_ he makes him, tell him all the weird ways he makes him feel—

“What are you losers on about?” Robin asks, coming out of the back room to stand behind the counter, and thank god for her timing, because Steve has never been good at holding his tongue. 

“Harrington thinks fries in milkshakes are gross.”

“C’mon, Robin, fries in milkshakes? You’ve gotta be on my side.”

“I never thought I’d say it,” Robin deadpans, “but I’m with Curly Q over there.”

Billy holds his hand above his head and Robin high fives him from behind, and they start to laugh. Steve can’t help but feel his heart tighten at the noise, two of his favorite people laughing together. The absolute insanity of the past couple years has made him so _soft._ He didn’t realize how _lonely_ he was for so long, and somehow he’s ended up with such good _friends,_ ones who care about him and check up on him and want to _know_ him, weirdly enough. And now Billy’s maybe one of them, and maybe Steve wants him to be something a little bit more, but—

“You’re _both_ lunatics,” Steve mumbles. 

“Have you ever even tried it?” Robin asks. 

“No, but—”

Billy takes the cigarette out of his mouth and places it behind one ear. “He hasn’t even fucking tried it…” 

“C’mon, dingus, you know what they say about knocking it…”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah…” Steve turns back to the rack of video tapes.

But then he gets _nailed_ in the back of the head by a packet of peanut M&Ms, and like, _ouch_ , the peanuts _hurt,_ and he knows when he turns around he’s going to get the classic Billy look, eyes devious and tongue wild, and he braces himself because he _knows_ where his mind can wander when he sees that look, but when he turns around to protest, he can’t get a word out before Billy starts to speak. 

“Whaddya say, Harrington? You, me, milkshakes, fries? That diner in Williamsport? Tom’s, or something? Pick me up at 7.”

And that was the _last_ thing Steve thought he would say, and his stomach instantly coils in a mix of horror and longing, but then his brain springs back into gear. “Oh, um, I mean, Robin and I—”

“Were gonna hang out but my mom got me this tutoring gig, actually. Sorry, dingus, must’ve forgot to mention it to you…”

Steve thought Robin only tutored on her days off, but then he sees her face when Billy turns away from her, eyes crazy and smile wide. She quickly flashes him two thumbs up and mouths _oh my god_ and Steve’s starting to pick up what she’s putting down. 

And he _should_ want this, because he _does_ want this, but that twisting of panic in his stomach, that fear—

“Guess it’s my lucky day then, huh, Harrington?” The smile on Billy’s face is the one that Steve’s seen him flash at every girl who hangs off Billy’s arm at school, the ones he keeps around for a day before moving onto the next. “Tell you what. If you hate it, I’ll pay. But when you love it, because you will, dinner’s on you.” He starts backing toward the door. “Catch ya later, Harrington. Robin,” Billy salutes her and she salutes back, before throwing Steve a wink and heading out, the bell on the door dinging behind him.

Steve watches Billy light his cigarette and start to smoke as he walks across the parking lot. 

“ _Steve,_ ” Robin drawls.

“What am I supposed to _do_?”

“What do you mean, what are you supposed to do? Billy just asked you on a date, _idiot._ ”

“It’s not a _date_ , my god—”

“Of course it’s a date. You’re _paying_.”

“If I end up liking it, which I won’t—”

“You’re paying and you’ll play footsies under the booth and then you can _tell_ him that you _like_ him, and like, I don’t know, make out in the back of your car—”

“Nu-uh, I’m not telling him, no way, I don’t wanna lose—”

“Yes, way. Stop letting your dumb Steve brain take over. He _likes_ you. C’mon, what’s not to like? If I wasn’t the biggest lesbian I know, I’d be all over you. You’re the best.”

“Robin—”

Robin knocks on his head like a door, drops her voice low and quiet, the way she only does when she’s being serious. “Dumb Steve brain. Shut up. Let Steve have this. He deserves it, okay?”

Steve grabs her hand, presses his forehead against it. Thinks of what it would be like to let himself have this. 

Tom’s is the same as Steve remembers: framed pictures all over the walls, red leather booths that are peeling in almost all places, quaint and grease stained like any diner should be. The last time he came here was with Nancy during the first couple weeks they were dating. He remembers sitting next to her, playing up the confidence and draping his arm around the back of the booth, feeling like a king when she fluttered her eyelashes at him while sipping her Coke. 

Now, Steve is sitting across the booth from Billy, but it somehow feels more intimate. Billy’s the picture of nonchalance. His curls are everywhere, brushing the shoulders of his classic red button down that’s only buttoned halfway. He’s got one arm laying across the table, fingers drumming and awfully close to Steve’s, and the other slung across the top of the booth like Steve had with Nancy what feels like forever go. Steve thinks for a moment too long about what it would be like to occupy that space, to feel the heat of Billy and peer up at him while he sucks from a straw. He keeps his fingers tangled together on top of the table to keep them from wandering.

They order burgers and fries and milkshakes—strawberry for Billy, chocolate for Steve—and chat about their days, Billy’s dumb as shit manager’s latest fuck up and how Robin beat Steve three times at paper football that afternoon. It’s easy and nice and it makes him feel good, talking to Billy like this, having someone who gives a shit. 

And Steve’s chest tightens because he wants to tell him. He wants and wants and wants…

The waitress comes with their orders before he can even begin thinking about what to say. 

“Moment of truth,” Billy says once their food is on the table and the waitress is gone. Steve begrudgingly reaches for a fry, but Billy swats his hand away so Billy can grab a fry from Steve’s plate, dunk it in his chocolate shake, and hold it in front of Steve’s mouth, eyebrows raised. Steve sits there, stunned, as drops of shake fall from the fry and onto his plate. 

And Steve may be dumb, sure, but he’s not stupid. He can’t be reading this wrong. He _can’t_. There’s no way to misread this situation.

Unless there is…

Billy clears his throat, moves the fry a little closer to Steve’s face. 

_Fuck it,_ Steve thinks. He’ll bite. 

So he does, leans in and peers up at Billy while he opens his mouth, lets the fry sit on his tongue for a moment too long before taking a bite. Billy’s breath hitches when he does, and Steve’s starting to think that maybe they’re on the same page. 

Steve leans back but keeps his eyes ahead while he chews, wants to savour the look on Billy’s face, his hazy eyes, the little, knowing smile. 

Steve chances a little, knowing smile back.

And…

“ _Shit_ ,” Steve breathes. “That _is_ good.”

Billy just laughs. Steve can’t even protest, finds he doesn’t really want to, when Billy dunks a fry in Steve’s milkshake and eats it up. 

After Steve pays, he drives them over to the quarry so they can smoke cigarettes on the roof of his car. Billy suggested they come and the stars are out and bright in the sky and this has to be a date, it _has_ to be, doesn’t it?

They’re quiet for a while, sucking on their cigarettes, and Steve starts to think maybe he should just say it, put it out there, see if Billy feels the same way, too… 

“I _knew_ you’d like it,” Billy says after blowing smoke up and away. “Just knew it.”

And Steve’s brought back, remembering this is all just some bet, nothing more than that. “Yeah, yeah, yeah, big whoop. You were right.”

“I usually am.”

“ _Okay,_ no need to be jerk, I just—”

“I mean, I _knew_ it.”

“Yeah, yeah, alright, I get—”

“Like, how could I have a crush on a guy who thinks that’s _gross_ , I mean—”

Steve snaps his head to the side to look at Billy who’s frozen in place. 

“I mean, uh,” Billy stammers. “I mean—”

“Wait—” Steve starts. 

“I didn’t mean for it to just come out like that, _fuck_ —”

“Wait wait wait. You—you mean it, right?” Steve asks, heart racing. He doesn’t even think when he flicks his cigarette to the ground and reaches out to lay his hand on Billy’s thigh.

Billy looks down at Steve’s hand for a moment, before laying his hand on top. He squeezes Steve’s hand and _finally_ Steve lets himself have this.

“Oh, thank _god_ ,” Steve breathes.

It only takes a second for Steve to kick into gear, to lean in with a wide open heart and do what he should’ve done ages ago. 

The next afternoon, Steve’s so lost in Billy’s eyes, leaning in close to each other over the counter, that he barely hears the _ding_ of the Family Video door open. 

“So I guess this means…” Robin starts. 

Steve startles back when he clues in but Billy just leans back from the counter slowly and winks at Steve. 

“...Steve paid?”

They all laugh and Billy and Robin high five and Steve feels his insides warm. Robin gives Steve that knowing look and mans the cash so Steve can pull Billy by his sleeve into the backroom, where he finally lets his brain shut up and heart open wide, lets himself have this. 

**Author's Note:**

> this is not the first time i've written about diners and the superiority of fries dunked in milkshakes and it surely won't be the last! (although i don't remember it being this implicitly sexual lol) this is apparently a Very polarizing topic so please tell your stance in the comments lol
> 
> yes the title is from the doja cat song, yes i came up with it approx. 3 minutes before posting because titles are not my strong suit, yes i love tiktok and no i haven't learned the dance (yet). 
> 
> happy harringrove week of love, tout le monde! <3


End file.
